[madcat]

Have a look at this .    I'm particularly miffed by the pea roots one!   

[arugula]

Interesting reading madcat....

[joyfull]

wow bang goes a lot of things I thought was true - well if you believe what they have written anyway  .

[8doubles]

Don`t believe all you read in 'The Guardian'.

I believe old wives are more reliable sources of information. 

[JayG]

I'd often wondered just how generous (or wasteful) Nature could be when it came to supplying fixed nitrogen to the soil, and also how long it would remain in the topsoil to benefit other plants anyway. Runner bean roots are so tuberous that they don't rot down in my soil if left for the six months or so before I need the space again, so I cut them up and put them on the compost heap.

As for using "English" tea as a pot plant fertiliser, I didn't know people actually did that!?? 

[JohnB47]

I'm constantly reading conflicting advice.

For example, in the current edition of the Country Gardner free magazine, in the 'Jobs in the Garden' section it says "Get digging. Digging is essential for good plant growth." OK it then goes on to say that organic matter can be added, during digging, to improve the soil and that heavy soil can be damaged by digging but the message seems to completely conflict with the 'no dig' philosophy (which I don't follow, although it seems to make sense).

It's just that, without a balanced view, people might read that and think that they absolutely must dig.

[Kristen]

I wonder if that is the easier advice to give?

My view is that if you don't dig you must NOT walk on it EVER. which leads to permanent paths (or raised beds)

Probably easier just to tell people to dig!

(I'm on clay)

[mumofstig]

I don't think our ancestors would have started digging if they didn't have a good reason for doing so............let alone carry it on for centuries. But it is one of those things there is always heated debate about and many of our members swear by coffee beans for slug protection, and my mum always watered the Aspidestra with the dregs from the teapot

I think you just have to make up your own mind, often by trying things yourself

[solway cropper]

My view is that if you don't dig you must NOT walk on it EVER.

There's actually a happy medium. Stepping on the soil the odd time in summer when it's dry is not going to do much damage but jumping up and down when it's waterlogged is. Like so much in life, gardening is a series of compromises usually reached by trial and error. As mum says, you have to make up your own mind about things.

[totalnovice]

Weel, it looks like i'll have to stop peeing on the compost heap then!  that'll please the neighbours.

[fatbelly]

I have held to be true most of those 'theories'.
I am quite surprised, particularly about the weeing on the compost as I have always peed into a watering can and then thrown it on the compost heap.

[TheSpartacat]

I was quite interested to read:
"US researchers have shown that spraying plants with a caffeine solution equivalent to a strong cup of coffee does kill slugs"

.. so they nibble and die? Hmmm, I often use the plunge pot to make coffee but never finish it all... might start spraying it on my brassicas now!

[8doubles]

I was quite interested to read:
"US researchers have shown that spraying plants with a caffeine solution equivalent to a strong cup of coffee does kill slugs"

.. so they nibble and die? Hmmm, I often use the plunge pot to make coffee but never finish it all... might start spraying it on my brassicas now!

I expect the EU will say you are using an unlicensed (and under taxed ) pesticide.

[TheSpartacat]

I expect the EU will say you are using an unlicensed (and under taxed ) pesticide.

LOL .. and I'll just say "Pesticide? Oh, no...Don't be daft! I'm just recycling brown water... water conservation and all that... "
They surely can't say it could have adverse effects, considering it IS safe for human consumption and the coffee grinds are being composted too? 

[peapod]

At least the parsnips one is true - I can tell that at least